Lasting machines



Nov. 29, 1955 R. L. HILL 2,724,845

LASTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 19, 1954 In van for Roscoe LHi/l .By his Afigweg NOV. 2 1

Filed Au 1954 R.|w HILL LASTING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 I n ven for R coe By his Ailorney Nov. 29, 1955 R. L. HILL LASTING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 19, 1954 UJ Wim mi QLA Mr 1 RB United States Patent .1 2,724,845 LASTING MACHINES Roscoe L. Hill, Norway, Maine, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 19, 1954, Serial No. 450,965 4 Claims. (Cl. 12-8.8)

This invention relates to lasting machines, and is herein illustrated as embodied in a lasting machine of the type disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,596,169, granted on May 13, 1952, on an application filed in the names of Leonard E. Proulx and the present inventor. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to use in a machine of that particular type or to the exact mechanical construction herein shown.

The machine of the aforementioned patent is provided with toe embracing Wipers for wiping the upper materials of a shoe heightwise of the last and for thereafter wiping the marginal portions of the upper materials inwardly over an insole on the last. This prior machine also has a device, commonly known as a retarder, which cooperates with the wipers during their upwiping action, and associated with this retarder is a holddown member for engaging the marginal portion of the toe end of the insole to prevent its displacement and/or distortion as the wipers wipe the upper materials upwardly and being to wipe them inwardly over the edge of the insole. In the course of a cycle of operations of the machine and just as the wipers begin to wipe the upper materials inwardly over the toe end of the insole member, this holddown member is automatically elevated to provide a clearance space for the advancing wipers.

The retarder of this prior machine is further adapted to serve to position the toe end of a shoe lengthwise and laterally in the machine by engagement with the toe end of the last when the shoe is first presented to the machine. Accordingly, the retarder initially occupies its lowermost position and the holddown member, which is associated therewith, is initially located in a position to be engaged by the insole member of a shoe placed in the machine with the bottom surface of the sole member in contact with a toe plate against which the shoe is subsequently clamped by a toe rest. In presenting a conventional type of shoe to the machine, the operator first spreads outwardly the upper materials around the toe end of the shoe and inserts them into a space between the upper surfaces of the toe embracing wipers and the lower side of the retarder. Then he moves the toe end of the last into engagement with the retarder thereby locating the shoe laterally and lengthwise in the machine. Because of the initial position of the holddown member the operators view of the retarder and wipers is more or less obscured so that the presentation of the shoe to the machine, in the manner just explained, may be rather diflicult and awkward since the operator is forced to rely to a considerable degree on his sense of feel in inserting the upper materials between the wiper and the retarder and in bringing the toe end of the last into engagement with the retarder.

The principal object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a novel and improved arrangement whereby these ditficulties are avoided. To that end, the herein illustrated machine, which has toe embracing wipers movable heightwise of a shoe to perform an upwiping operation on the toe end of an upper on a last and movable thereafter in a direction lengthwise of the last to wipe the upper inwardly over the toe end of an insole on the last and a retarder for cooperating with the wipers during their upwiping action, is provided with a holddown member which, in accordance with a feature of the invention, is initially held in a retracted position spaced heightwise of the shoe away from the sole member and lengthwise of the shoe away from the retarder, and means for moving the holddown member heightwise of the shoe into engagement with the sole member and lengthwise of the shoe toward the retarder, at the beginning of the operating cycle of the machine and prior to the upwiping action of the wipers. More particularly, the holddown member is carried by a support which is mounted for sliding movement in a direction extending heightwise of the shoe and is movable relatively to the support in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe, while means are provided for holding the support in a position to retract the holddown heightwise of the shoe away from the sole member and for holding the holddown member lengthwise of the shoe away from the retarder against the action of yieldable means, the aforementioned holding means being arranged to be withdrawn to cause the yieldable means to eifect movement of the holddown member heightwise of the shoe into engagement with the sole member and lengthwise of the shoe toward the retarder, at the beginning of the operating cycle and prior to the upwiping action of the wipers. Thereafter, at a later stage in the operating cycle and just as the wipers commence their overwiping action, the holding means is returned to its original position thereby retracting the holddown member to provide clearance space for the advancing wipers.

The above and other objects and features of the invention will appear in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a lasting machine embodying the features of this invention;

Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are views in side elevation of certain of the operating elements of the machine shown in different positions assumed in the course of a cycle of operations of the machine;

Fig. 6 is a view in front elevation and at an enlarged scale of one of the operating elements of the machine;

Fig. 7 is a view in horizontal section substantially on line VIIVII of Fig. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 8 is a view in horizontal section substantially on line VIIIVIII of Fig. 6 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

The lasting machine shown in Fig. l is substantially of the same construction as the machine disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,596,169, referred to above, and is provided with a pair of toe embracing wipers 10, Figs. 2 to 5, for wiping the toe end of the upper of a shoe heightwise of a last and for thereafter wiping its marginal portion inwardly over an insole on the last. For supporting the shoe during the lasting operation, the machine has a toe plate 12, which is adjustably secured to the lower end of a post 14, a toe rest 16, and a heel rest 18. During the upwiping action of the wipers 10, the marginal portion of the upper is held outspread on the wipers by means of a retarder 20, which corresponds in construction and mode of operation to the retarder 18 of the machine disclosed in the aforementioned patent. These several operating elements are actuated in the manner set forth in the mentioned patent by means including a plurality of operating cams, not shown, which are mounted on a main cam shaft 22, associated with a main frame casting 24 and driven by means including an electric motor 26, Fig. 1. In common with the prior patented machine, the herein illustrated machine is provided with an insole holddown indicated generally by the reference character 30 for engaging the marginal portion of the insole to prevent its displacement and/or distortion by the wipers of the machine as they wipe the upper materials upwardly and begin to wipe them inwardly over the edge of the insole. This holddown member corresponds, in general, to the holddown member 390 of the machine disclosed in the mentioned patent but, for the purpose of the present invention, is mounted and operated in a novel and improved manner.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 7, there is secured to the post 14, by means of a clamping member 32 and screws 34, 34, an upwardly extending guide member 36 which is provided with a T-slot 38. Slidably mounted in this T- slot is a vertically extending slide 40, see also Fig. 6. Pivotally supported on a pin 42 which is mounted in forwardly extending ears 44, 44, formed on the lower end of the slide 40, is an arm 46. Also mounted on the pin 42 is a curved lever 48 which is provided with adjacent camming surfaces 50, 52, Figs. 4 and 5, and has secured to it a spring support 54, Fig. 3. This lever is formed with a groove 56 into which a laterally extending rib 58 on the arm 46 projects, Fig. 7, so that this arm and the lever 48 are connected together for unitary pivotal movement about the axis of the pin 42. Secured to one side of the guide member 36 is a block 60 provided with a threaded hole which receives a screw 62 on one end of which there is journaled, by means of a pin 64, a cam roll 66. When the parts are in the positions in which they are shown in Fig. 3, a coil spring 70, stretched between the spring support 54 and a pin 68, mounted on the guide member 36, swings the lever 48 and arm 46 in a clockwise direction and to the extent determined by the engagement of the roll 66 With the camming surface 54) on the lever 48. A wing nut 69 is provided for varying the tension of the spring 70.

At its upper end, the slide 40 has a forwardly extending portion 69 in which there is mounted a stud 72 and rotatably supported on the outer end of this stud is a cam roll 74, Fig. 6. The heightwise position of the slide 40 is determined by a cam member 76 against which the cam roll 74 is held by means of a coil spring 77, stretched between a pin 78, mounted on the stud 72, and a screw 80 threaded into the guide member 36. The cam member 76 is secured to one arm 82 of a bell-crank lever 84 having a second arm 86, this bell-crank lever being mounted on a cross shaft 87 which is associated with a housing 89 mounted on the machine frame casting 24, Fig. 1. Connected to the arm 86 of this bell-crank lever is the upper end of a downwardly extending link 90. At its lower end this link is connected to a cam lever 92 which is pivotally mounted on a portion of the frame casting 24. This cam lever carries a cam roll 94 which rides on a peripheral cam 96 mounted on the main cam shaft 22.

Referring to Fig. 8, the holddown 30 comprises two articulated members 100, 102 which are mounted on a pin 104 (Fig. 6) secured to the lower end of the arm 46. The members 100, 102 are normally held spread apart by means of two coil springs 106, 106 which are interposed between abutments 108, 108 on these members and a centrally located abutment member 110, secured to the arm 46 by a screw 112, Fig. 6.

As is explained in more detail in the aforementioned patent, the retarder 18 of the prior machine is operated by means of a cam which is so formed and arranged that the retarder is initially, prior to the beginning of each operating cycle, in its lowermost position and thus serves to position the toe end of the shoe lengthwise in the machine, generally in the manner shown in Fig. 2 of the present drawings. The cam 96, which has a drop 120 on an adjustable plate 122 and a rise 124 on an adjustable plate 126, is so disposed on the cam shaft 22 that it assumes the position shown in Fig. 1 when the machine is at rest. Thus the holddown member 30 is initially held by the cam member 76 in the retracted position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 in which the holddown is spaced heightwise of the shoe away from the sole member of the shoe, herein illustrated as including a sole member S and an upper U assembled on a last L, and lengthwise of the shoe away from the retarder 20. Accordingly, when a shoe is first presented to the machine with the toe end of the last placed against the retarder, the holddown member does not obscure the operators View of the retarder or of the space between the retarder and the wipers into which the marginal portions of the upper materials of a conventional shoe are inserted, see Fig. 2.

During an initial stage in the cycle of operations of the machine, the wipers 10 are advanced and elevated to clamp the outspread upper materials against the retarder, see Fig. 3. Shortly thereafter, as the main cam shaft 22 continues to rotate in the direction of the arrow, Fig. l, the cam roll 94 descends along the drop 120 of the cam 96 under the weight of the lever 92 and link and the action of the spring 77 on the bell-crank lever 84, so that the slide 40 is moved downwardly. During this down ward movement of the slide, the spring 76 gradually swings the lever 43 in a clockwise direction, under the successive control of the two camrning surfaces 50, 52, from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4 in which the holddown is heid yieldingly in engagement with the sole member by the spring 77 and is urged lengthwise of the shoe toward the retarder by the spring 74 The retarder 20 is mounted on the lower end of an arm 13% and the camming surfaces 50, 52 are so formed and disposed that the holddown is caused to enter the space between the lower end of this arm and the sole member without interference.

Just before the holddown engages the soie member, the lever 4:"; moves downwardly somewhat beyond the roll 66 so that the lever 48 and the arm 46 tend to swing to a position determined by the engagement of one side of the lever with the slide 4% With a conventional shoe of the type illustrated in Figs. 2, 3 and 5, however, the holddown contacts the inner surface of the retarder and thus further clockwise swinging of the lever 48 and the arm 46 is prevented and the holddown member assumes a position at the extreme end of the toe end of the shoe. When the operating cycle proceeds to the point where the wipers commence to wipe the lasting margin of the upper materials inwardly over the bottom of the sole member, Fig. 5, the cam roll rides up along the rise 124 of the cam 96 and the holddown is moved to its retracted position by the action of the cam roll 66 first on the camming surface 52 and then on the carnming surface 50, as the slide is elevated by the cam member 7 6 thereby providing ample clearance space for the advancing wipers. The movement of the holddown to its retracted position may be delayed, by suitable adjustment of the plate 126 of cam 96, so that the holddown remains in contact with the insole during a substantial portion of the inwiping action of the Wipers. Under these conditions, the holddown will be forced rearwardly, the arm 46 and lever 48 swinging in a counterclockwise direction against the action of the spring 70, and by holding the margin of the upper yieldingly against the advancing wipers will serve as an auxiliary retarder or distributor. Such action of the holddown may be desirable when operating on shoes having short uppers.

While, for the reasons indicated above, the improved holddown mechanism just described is especially useful when the machine is operating on conventional shoes, this improved mechanism is equally advantageous when the machine is used for lasting shoes having so-called moccasin type uppers, as shown in Fig. 4, in which the upper is indicated by the reference character M. With this type of an upper, although a certain amount of upward tension is desirable, it has been observed that the heightwise draft which results from the combined action of the retarder 20 and the wipers 1%, when the upper is outspread on the wipers by the retarder, as shown in Fig. 3, may be too great and such as to place undue stress on the seam a which joins the two parts of the upper M together. Hence, in operating on shoes of this type, the operator, when placing the shoe in the machine, instead aria of inserting the lasting margin of the upper materials into the space between the wipers and the retarder, permits these materials to project upwardly in front of the retarder and brings the toe end of the shoe against the retarder. This manner of inserting a shoe of this type into the machine is greatly facilitated by the present arrangement inasmuch as the holddown is, at this time, held in its retracted position. Thereafter, during the operating cycle of the machine, when the holddown is moved into engagement with the toe end of the sole member by the spring 77 and is urged lengthwise of the shoe toward the retarder by the spring 70, the lasting margin will be pressed yieldingly against the retarder. Therefore, as the wipers and the retarder move upwardly during the upwiping action of the wipers, the retarder applies a slight frictional drag; on the upper materials held against it by the holddown. The upward draft thus provided, while sufficient for this type of an upper, is not strong enough unduly to stress the seam a.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a lasting machine, the combination with wipers movable heightwise of a shoe to perform an upwiping operation on the toe end of an upper on a last and movable thereafter in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe to wipe the lasting margin of the upper inwardly over the toe end of a sole member on the last in the course of an operating cycle of the machine and a retarder for clamping the lasting margin of the upper outspread on the wipers during the upwiping operation, of a holddown member for engaging the toe end of the sole member, a support for the holddown member mounted for sliding movement in a direction extending heightwise of the shoe, means for initially holding said support in a position to retract the holddown heightwise of the shoe away from the sole member prior to the beginning of the operating cycle of the machine, yieldable means tending to move the support against the resistance of said holding means, and means for withdrawing the holding means to cause said yieldable means to effect movement of the support in a direction heightwise of the shoe, thereby to move the holddown into engagement with the sole member, at the beginning of the operating cycle and prior to the upwiping operation of the wipers and for thereafter returning the holding means to its original position to retract the holddown as the wipers wipe the lasting margin inwardly over the toe end of the sole member.

2. In a lasting machine, the combination with wipers movable heightwise of a shoe to perform an upwiping operation on the toe end of an upper on a last and movable thereafter in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe to wipe the lasting margin of the upper inwardly over the toe end of a sole member on the last in the course of an operating cycle of the machine and a retarder for clamping the lasting margin of the upper outspread on the wipers during the upwiping operation, of a holddown member for engaging the toe end of the sole member, a support for the holddown member mounted for sliding movement in a direction extending heightwise of the shoe, means for mounting the holddown member on said support for movement relatively thereto in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe, means for initially holding said support in a position to retract the holddown heightwise of the shoe away from said sole member and for holding said holddown member lengthwise of the shoe away from said retarder, prior to the beginning of the operating cycle of the machine, yieldable means tending to move said support and said holddown member against the resistance of said holding means, and means for withdrawing said holding means to cause said yieldable means to efiect movement of the holddown heightwise of the shoe into engagement with the sole member and lengthwise of the shoe toward said retarder, at the beginning of said operating cycle and priorto the upwiping operation of said wipers and for thereafter returning the holding means to its original position to retract the holddown as the wipers wipe the lasting margin inwardly over the toe end of the sole member.

3. In a lasting machine, the combination with wipers movable heightwise of a shoe to perform an upwiping operation on the toe end of an upper on a last and movable thereafter in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe to wipe the lasting margin of the upper inwardly over the toe end of a sole member on the last in the course of an operating cycle of the machine and a retarder for clamping the lasting margin of the upper outspread on the wipers during the upwiping operation, said retarder being initially positioned for engagement with the toe end of a shoe to locate the shoe in the machine, of a holddown member for engaging the toe end of the sole member, a support for the holddown member mounted for sliding movement in a direction extending heightwise of the shoe, means for initially holding said support in a position to retract the holddown heightwise of the shoe away from the sole member prior to the beginning of the operating cycle of the machine, yieldable means tending, to move the support against the resistance of said holding means, and means for withdrawing the hold ing means to cause said yieldable means to effect movement of the support in a direction heightwise of the shoe thereby to move the holddown into engagement with the sole member, at the beginning of the operating cycle of the machine and prior to the upwiping operation of the wipers and for thereafter returning the holding means to its original position to retract the holddown as the wipers wipe the lasting margin inwardly over the toe end of the sole member.

4. In a lasting machine, the combination with wipers movable heightwise of a shoe to perform an upwiping operation on the toe end of an upper on a last and movable thereafter in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe to wipe the lasting margin of the upper inwardly over the toe end of a sole member on the last in the course of an operating cycle of the machine and a re tarder for clamping the lasting margin of the upper outspread on the wipers during the upwiping operation, said retarder being initially positioned for engagement with the toe end of a shoe to locate the shoe in the machine, of a holddown member for engaging the toe end of the sole member, a support for the holddown member mounted for sliding movement in a direction extending heightwise of the shoe, means for mounting the holddown member on said support for movement relative thereto in a direction extending lengthwise of the shoe, means for initially holding said support in a position to retract the holddown heightwise of the shoe away from said sole member and for holding said holddown lengthwise of the shoe away from said retarder, prior to the beginning of the operating cycle of the machine, yieldable means tending to move said support and said holddown member against the resistance of said holding means, and means for withdrawing said holding means to cause said yieldable means to etfect movement of the holddown heightwise of the shoe into engagement with the sole member and lengthwise of the shoe toward the retarder, at the beginning of said operating cycle and prior to the upwiping operation of said wipers and for thereafter returning the holding means to its original position to retract the holddown as the wipers wipe the lasting margin inwardly over the toe end of the sole member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,224,146 Eastman Dec. 10, 1940 2,444,141 Miller June 29, 1948 2,605,484 Macdonald Aug. 5, 1952 

